US top diplomat meets with WHO chief, backs study into COVID-19 origins

Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a virtual meeting with Canadian Foreign Minister Marc Garneau who is in Ottawa, Canada, at the State Department in Washington, U.S. February 26, 2021.  REUTERS FILE PHOTO

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with the head of the World Health Organization on Wednesday and affirmed U.S. support for the global health body’s plans to conduct additional studies into the origins of COVID-19, including in China.

Earlier this month, the WHO called for all countries to work together to investigate the origins of the coronavirus that caused COVID-19. China has rejected plans for more checks on labs and markets in its territory.

Blinken met with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Kuwait City and discussed the plans for further study of the origin of the pandemic, the State Department said.

“He stressed the need for the next phase to be timely, evidence-based, transparent, expert-led, and free from interference,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.

The first human cases of COVID-19 were reported in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019. China has repeatedly dismissed theories that the virus leaked from one of its laboratories.